Bookselling is changing dramatically.
Big chains are proliferating and squeezing out independent bookstores.
Independents lost half their market share in six years and many have closed.
Most books are now sold in nontraditional outlets, including discount stores and the internet.
The American Bookseller Association represents private bookstore owners and sponsors Book Expo, an annual convention.
The ABA brought antitrust suits against top publishing houses and Borders and Barnes & Noble for making secret deals that undercut independents, resulting in a $25 million payment by publishers to booksellers.
It censured author Frank McCourt for participating in chainstore advertising, challenged barnesandnoble.com's claim "If we don't have your book nobody does," led successful opposition to B&N's plan to purchase the largest book distributor (threatening independents with reduced service and compromised records), and joined the Northern California Independent Booksellers Association in urging collection of taxes from on-line bookstores.
To meet online competition, the ABA opened Book Sense and Contentville, online selling and commentary sites serving as hubs for individual stores.
Online book sales captured 2% of the market in 1999 and were projected to rise to 10% by 2002 and 18% by 2003.
Online competition led barnesandnoble.com to sell shares to the public, B&N and Amazon to establish their own distribution centers to increase profits, and barnesandnoble.com and borders.com to match amazon.com in halving best-seller prices.
Online sales hurt mail-order and book club sales.
To stay competitive, traditional booksellers increased personal service, sponsored special events, and began selling online and offering broad search capabilities.
